[inquest]

He has a legal "mandate" to decorate the courthouse? So he's violating the law if he leaves it undecorated?

[general_re]

It is a discretionary act permitted by law - still doesn't save your case, though. He is authorized by the law to decorate the courthouse, if he wishes. A police officer is authorized by the law to seek a warrant to search your house, but the fact that he declines to seek a warrant in a particular case does not mean that he is failing to administer the law. Contrariwise, by your logic it would seem to follow that if a police officer does seek a warrant, he is not administering the law when he does so....